To Beat Kent, Ucf Must Slow Whatley's Run Up Ncaa Charts

UCF - Next opponent: Kent

The four-hour return trip from Ypsilanti, Mich., to Kent, Ohio, should have been the best bus ride of tailback Astron Whatley's life.

''Yeah, should have been, but it wasn't,'' Whatley said Wednesday. ''Both hamstrings cramped up, and I made most of the trip lying on the floor.''

Cramps? Was there a problem?

''Well, I was doing a little bit of running that day.''

That is a fact. The day was Sept. 20, when Whatley ran into the NCAA record book by rushing 42 times for 373 yards, the fifth-best day in Division I-A college football history.

His historic game for Kent has the attention of the University of Central Florida Golden Knights, who travel to Kent to take on Whatley and the rest of the Golden Flashes at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Whatley's effort also was the best in Mid-American Conference history and the best in school history, beating Don ''Bowling Ball'' Nottingham's 275 yards in 1969.

According to Whatley, though, that is not the good stuff. What really mattered was that Kent came back from a 14-point deficit to beat Eastern Michigan, 41-38, ending a road winless streak of 0-30-1 going back to 1992.

''Winning was the most important thing,'' Whatley said. ''I wasn't using a calculator to keep track of my yards because all I cared about was the score.''

That will be the case again Saturday, when the Flashes (1-3) celebrate homecoming against the Knights (1-4). UCF is called a 21 1/2 -point favorite, but Whatley doesn't think so after watching films of the defense.

''They seem very quick, but some of their blitzes puzzle me,'' he said. ''I guess they'll be happy if they work, but our line did a great job of picking up blitzes last time.''

Blitzing or not, UCF faces a difficult challenge in stopping Whatley, a 5-foot-8, 192-pound senior somewhat like former UCF tailback Marquette Smith in size and style.

The Flashes had last week off, so Whatley is long over his cramps and eager to get at it again.

Those backs have taken their toll in yardage as the Knights have given up an average of 151.2 yards per game, 68th among 112 Division I-A teams in the nation. Whatley is third nationally, averaging 179 yards per game.

Kent coach Jim Corrigall loves him.

''Astron practices like a man possessed, plays like a man possessed,'' Corrigall said. ''He has tremendous integrity and courage. What he did (in Kent's last game) was carry us on his back.''

Said running-backs coach Billy Gonzales: ''I feel privileged to work with him.''

Whatley, 23, was not recruited by the big schools after a very good, but not sensational, high school career as a running back and defensive back at Harding High in nearby Warren, Ohio. At Kent, however, he rushed for 1,003 yards as a redshirt freshman in 1994, 978 yards in '95 and 1,132 yards in '96.

Now, with 716 yards this season and 3,829 in his career, he needs all of two yards against UCF to break the Kent all-time career record set by Eric Wilkerson in 1985-88.

What Whatley has not been able to do often is win. The Flashes have not won more than two games in a season since 1988, when they were 5-6.

They are seeking their second win Saturday, which means more to Whatley than yards.

''I would like to win the rest and get a championship in my last go-around here,'' Whatley said. ''Then I'd like to explore getting into the NFL.''

How does Whatley describe himself as a running back and a young man on the rise?